We take Jeep’s new 2014 Patriot out for a second test drive to see how well the all-new for this year 6-speed automatic transmission transforms the drive. It replaces the old Constantly Variable Transmission (CVT), which was a buzz-kill last time we drove one.

And affordable it is, starting at a base price of $15,995. The Patriot is built upon Chrysler’s last generation front-wheel drive architecture that also shared the Dodge Caliber and still the Jeep Compass.

The look is familiar and remains the last vestige of Jeep’s square shouldered styling which echoes the popular mid-size XJ Cherokee built from 1984 to 2001. It’s a bit smaller but is unmistakeably a Jeep at first sight.


The interior received a healthy makeover in 2011 which raised the bar considerably from previous models. Controls are simple and laid out in a no-nonsense way, keeping it quite simple overall. The optioned touch-screen audio system with Uconnect sounded good and was easy navigate while on the road.

Front seats have a robust cloth and offer up good comfort and easy adjustment. You sit low in the Patriot giving you a traditional SUV feel and view over the hood that makes it feel much larger than it is. Rear seat room is plentiful as well, with fold down capability.

The dash and trim is a bit low cost or lets say something that could have been supplied by Rubbermaid, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing for a Jeep. It all fits together well and on the back-roads doesn’t rattle and shake, so durable is more the takeaway here.

Ground clearance is a healthy 8.1” for a vehicle in this class allowing for some more than mild soft roading. The Freedom I 4×4 drive system available with the six-speed automatic transmission is also a notable feature in this class.

A full-time system, it can divert power from the front to rear automatically, but offers a manual locking center differential for some more control over traction.

Best of all it has what Jeep calls a brake lock differential which uses the ABS system to stop a spinning wheel such as in our two-wheel test where we get one front and one rear-wheel in the air. The system performed as promised, getting us on our way.

Granted you can go further with the Freedom II off-road system which has a 19:1 crawl ratio, a more aggressive locking scenario, skid plates and more. But this basic system still rocks out better than anything from Toyota, Honda, or Ford.

On the back roads the Patriot impressed as well with more than solid composure on washboard and rutted surfaces. The chassis is neutral enough and the stability control is well sorted such that you don’t get a lot of pitch and yaw on loose gravel.

My biggest surprise is how robust the chassis feels for a car-based crossover. So many of these things we drive rattle and shake on rough non-paved roads. Snaps go to Jeep for making sure this feels like one when you used it as such.

Handling both off-road and on road is vastly improved over the Patriot that first came on the market in 2007. The suspension has a quality feel in its tuning that on the highway is quiet and comfortable as well as responsive on the twisty roads.

The 2.4 liter “world engine” has 172 horsepower and promises 21 mpg city, 27 mpg highway and 23 mpg combined when mated to this six-speed automatic transmission. We achieved 24.5 mpg in our week with the Patriot, above promised.

The driving experience is really elevated with this new 6-speed automatic transmission. Gone is the old leaf-blower effect of the CVT, and a more traditional shifting behavior and revs comes to calm. The gearbox shifts as expected and the manual mode works well.

This engine while more than adequate in power remains a box of rocks in sound and refinement however. It’s particularly noisy when cold and thrashy when driven hard. It will be nice when the latest generation Chrysler engines make it to the Patriot.

Overall we came away well impressed by the new 2014 Jeep Patriot. It’s the most affordable SUV in America but doesn’t make you feel like you were the lowest bidder. It offers more off-road capability than anything in its class. Period.